PEOPLE in Nantwich who sign a petition for an elected mayor are being duped, claims a council leader.

Memorial Action Team (MAT) campaigners, angry at plans to move Crewe's war memorial, are aiming to collect 4,300 signatures of electors to force a referendum.

But Crewe and Nantwich Borough Council's Labour leader Peter Kent is accusing MAT of misleading voters by suggesting the memorial move could still be halted.

He said: 'People who have signed the petition have been duped. I understand the views of the protesters but they will not be popular if they insist on wasting council time and money in this way.

'If they reach their target number of signatures, it will cost the Council Tax-payers at least £100,000. Any sub-sequent election will have a further cost and will achieve nothing, because by that time the war memorial will have been moved.'

MAT spokesman Frank Jones said: 'We just feel we have to try to do something and as far as costs go, I know for a fact that the councillors who failed to listen to public opinion on the memorial were paid more than £250,000 in allowances last year.

'People know that this is not a single-issue campaign.'

Nantwich Independent councillors are not backing the borough council leader. One of them, Cllr Bill Mc-Ginnis said: 'The MAT is being portrayed as doing this out of spite but people are unhappy with the way the memorial decision was taken and I think they are right.'

Another Nantwich Independent councillor, Arthur Moran, added: 'I think the present campaign has come about because people feel the council board have too much power and I would support that.'